TH Talks with the Duo at the Best Beer Festival in Toronto

The Grammy Award-winning artists have been making music since 1985, and we had the chance to sit down with the pair and learn a little bit about what it takes to stay in the rap game for more than 25 years.

6 Questions with Salt-N-Pepa

1. How do you manage to maintain such loyal fans over the years?

I think when Salt-N-Pepa came out we were really original. We were just three young chicks expressing ourselves and doing our thing. There weren’t any stylists or makeup artists or people giving you an image back then, and we think because we brought fun, femininity and fashion to hip-hop for women, a lot of women identified with us and they remember us as being a part of an important time in their lives.

2. You were the first female rap group to win a Grammy. How do you feel about the female hip-hop artists of today such as Nicki Minaj?

I just feel like there’s room for more because when we were coming up there was Missy (Elliott), (Queen) Latifah, Eve, Lil’ Kim, and so many different women representing different women, so we’re wondering a little where all the other female rappers are today and would just like to see more of them. It’s always been a male dominated field and we always knew that, but there’s definitely room for some more females.

3. Who would you say you admire as a musician?

We’re team Rihanna!

4. What important trends do you see in music right now?

What’s really happening a lot now is collaboration. When we first started you would sometimes see collaborations, but now it’s all about the artists getting together on one track, which becomes a hit song and that’s a good trend that’s nice to see.

5. Where do you get your inspiration from?

Our fans. I know that’s kind of cliche but when we’re on the road for so long sometimes it can get difficult. But when we hit the stage and see how much people love and appreciate us it’s always surprising and exciting.